Is Your Horse Farm Prepared for Hurricane Season?

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 each year. Even when it’s not hurricane season or when the season isn’t predicted to be as bad, it’s still a good idea to make your plans early and to work on preparing your horses for potential storms. Planning is the key to keeping your horses safe. Ensure your horse is up to date on all vaccines. Create a “plan” with neighbors and surrounding farm owners. Identify available resources in the surrounding areas. This includes an evacuation route, stabling locations, feed availability, emergency kits and ensuring your horses are trained to load into a trailer if needed. If your plans include evacuation, leave early enough to avoid traffic jams and the accompanying delays. Also keep in mind that management practices may change during an evacuation, so monitor your horses closely for dehydration and signs of colic or intestinal distress. The destruction each hurricane can cause is unpredictable. While there is no way to know if you will be affected by a hurricane, creating a plan will prepare you to handle any situation that occurs.

If you plan to weather the storm at home, these suggestions may help to keep you and your horse safe: • Have a minimum of a two-week supply of hay/ feed stored in watertight containers. Place those supplies in the highest and driest area possible. • You will need a minimum of 10 gallons of water per horse per day. Fill as many clean plastic barrels with water as you can, secure the tops and store them in a safe place near your animals. • Prepare an emergency barn kit that includes a light source, batteries, rope, chain saw, fuel, hammers, saw, nails, screws, spray paint and fencing materials. Keep this kit in a secure place before the storm. • Notify neighbors and family where you will be during the storm. • Collect identifying records for each animal, including a recent photo of each horse with a family member in the photo, medical documents, special needs, tattoos, microchips, brands, scars, any other permanent identification/markings, owner information and your veterinarian’s contact information. Place this is a secure location that you can reach after the hurricane. You may even consider sending a copy of these documents to a friend out of the hurricane’s potential reach, so the records could be retrieved later, if needed • Attach identification to all horses (fetlock ID tags, tags on halters, spray paint phone numbers on the animal or tie waterproof bag containing ownership information in the mane). • Turn off circuit breakers to the barn or area where horses will be kept (since a power surge could cause sparks or a fire). • Provide hay/water for each horse during a storm. • Remove any hazards from the area where horses will be kept. • If horses are kept outside, allow them access to higher ground.

Reference: LSU Ag Center

Horse Trailer Safety

Safety is always a concern when trailering your horse.  This article will list some things to think about when you are hauling horses.  Information came from the University of Maryland Extension Publication Safe Trailering and Transportation of Horses.

1.      Type of trailer you have or may purchase.  The most important decision for a trailer is the comfort and safety of the animal.  There are two main types of trailers.  A bumper pull is recommended for shorter hauls and smaller tow vehicles while a gooseneck trailer has more stability during bad weather conditions and has a higher weight-carrying capacity. Make sure the flooring is solid and secure for horses.  Using rubber mats can help to secure footing. Here is a University of Maryland Extension Publication on Selecting a Horse Trailer for more in-depth considerations. 

2.      Choosing a towing vehicle.  Make sure your vehicle can get the job done.  The general rule is the larger and heavier the trailer, the more horsepower needed from the tow vehicle.  Make sure your vehicle has adequate tow rating for your trailer.

3.      Pre-Trip Safety Checklist.

-    Fully inspect and check the tow vehicle.  Regularly service and maintain the vehicle.

-    Check tires and wheels.

-    Check all lights and wiring to make sure they work and wiring is secure.

-    Inspect brakes and check fluid levels.  Do a loaded and unloaded drive test to check the brakes.

-    Check hitches and make sure the ball is the correct size for the hitch and is properly secured.  Check the jack stand.

-    Check the levelness of the hitched trailer.

-    Check floor and ramp for soft spots, rotting, etc.  Also inspect floor mats.

-    Make sure you have a first aid kit in your vehicle including road side flares, fire extinguisher and flashlight.

4.      Trailer Driving Habits.  Practice driving and maneuvering your trailer before loading animals.  Practice driving forward and backwards.  Adjust your mirrors.  Make adjustments to the brake controller as needed. 

5.      Preparations Before Traveling.  Make sure you have a first aid kit for your horse(s).  Include emergency contacts in the tow vehicle and the trailer.  Make sure you are up to date on vaccinations and have all health papers and negative coggins tests for the area you are traveling to.  Under normal circumstances, bedding in the trailer is not necessary, but may add comfort.  Bedding can also soak up urine and manure, but clean out the trailer after the trip.

6.      Traveling With Horses.  While traveling, horses need periods of rest every 3-4 hours.  The time it takes to refuel your vehicle and take a rest break is adequate for a horse.  Before loading a horse, make sure it has a correct fitting halter.  Check out this old horse blog article Safety in the Trailer on training your horse to load and unload before you have to transport your horse.  Use a quick release trailer tie or slip knot with leadline to secure your horse.  You need to be able to release the horse quickly during an emergency.  While in the trailer, consider your safety if the horse becomes scared and make sure you have an exit from the trailer.  

Shipping boots and leg wraps provide additional protection to the legs during transportation.  When hauling several horses, make sure the horses are familiar with each other and consider the social hierarchy when placing animals beside each other.  Feeding and watering on the road is important too.  If offering free-choice hay during transport, secure the hay net high and tight so it does not entangle the horse.  Take buckets from home so the horse is familiar and to reduce disease transfer.  Offer water every 3-4 hours.

     

Good ventilation is a must to keep horses cool and provide fresh air during the trip.  Open the ceiling vents and/or windows to help with ventilation.  When unloading, make sure to park the trailer in a location with secure footing such as grass or gravel.

Hopefully these tips will help you prepare to trailer your horse(s) and avoid problems while traveling.  Once you are back from your trip, clean and disinfect your trailer and equipment used to reduce disease concerns.

Schedule Routine Fall Health Care

We’ve all dealt with getting our horses through the hot summer weather safely, and hopefully followed the recommendations of using a mister for cooling, protecting horses from flies, scheduling the horse’s work early, and all the other things we do to lessen environmental stress during hot weather.  Even though it is still pretty warm outside, we should be looking ahead to fall and winter and making plans for horse health during the transition to winter and for the cold months.  I’ll talk about some of the things that should be done in the fall to provide good horse health care.

It’s a good idea to schedule a date with a farrier during the fall to make sure that horses have healthy feet going into the winter months.  Ideally, a farrier visits the farm every couple of months, especially if the horses are being shown or worked.

Another date to get on the calendar is a visit by the veterinarian.  Regular vet checks are a lot less expensive than an emergency call.  At the fall checkup, the veterinarian can give any needed booster vaccinations, and they will check the horse’s teeth.  If equine dental work is needed, fall is a good time to get that done.  Usually more grain is fed to horses during the winter, and horses with good teeth will waste a lot less of those expensive supplements than a horse whose teeth need floating.

Everyone has their own opinion on deworming horses, including whether the horse needs it or not, how often it should be done, and what product(s) work best.  Fall is a great time to actually check the horse to see if deworming is necessary.  That is another job that can be made when the veterinarian visits, or this can be done on the farm – with the right equipment.  Conducting a fecal egg count is the best way to check whether or not deworming is necessary.  All it takes is a bit of knowledge about taking and processing the sample, a microscope, and something to count with.  If the parasite egg count is low, then a dewormer may not be necessary.  If the egg numbers are high, then take some care in choosing the right deworming product.  Also, be sure to vary the products used from treatment to treatment.  That will help slow the development of resistant species.  

It is a good idea to check stalls and other housing where horses are kept during the winter.  Make sure there are no projections sticking out such as nails that worked loose or splinters from old boards that could cause injury.  It’s a guarantee that the horse will find those if you don’t, usually by injury.  Manure should be removed frequently to prevent buildup in the stall.  This will help with hoof care, as manure can be pretty wet and can lead to hoof rot.

Make sure that the pastures and paddocks are in good shape, again with no hazards present that could cause injury.  Part of the health maintenance routine is to make sure that horses get enough exercise each day.  Even in winter months, horses need to be outside and not kept in a box stall, unless there is a good reason for confinement.

These tips will help make sure that the horse is ready for the winter months.  Some of these are pretty basic, but by taking care of the normal, “routine” stuff, the majority of potential problems with horse health can be avoided. Taking care of the routine items is the basis for a strong overall horse health care program.

Fall Forage Information

Fall is quickly approaching and if you're like me, you're always late getting your pastures planted. Now is the time to start thinking of what you will plant for this fall. The following is a description of some of the forages planted in North Carolina for winter/fall grazing.  

Before planting any seed always make sure you take a soil sample to know the fertilizer recommendations. In eastern North Carolina we are blessed to have a great climate to plant a wide variety of forages for the fall/winter months. In our area we can plant Oats, Wheat, Triticale, Rye and Ryegrass, Fescues, Brassicas, Winter Peas and many others. If you are looking at planting triticale make sure you have contacted someone about seed early as there is likely to be a shortage of seed again for this fall. The seeding rate on triticale is between 100 to 150lbs per acre. Over the years we have seen an increase of producers planting ryegrass which is seeded at 35-40lbs per acre. Ryegrass grows quickly once it is planted and is a great source for producers to turn to during fall and spring months. 

There has also been an increase in producers planting mixes, (2 to 7 varieties) of forages together to help build soil health and used as grazing. These mixes have come about through the research done by the Amazing Grazing team at NC State University to promote a different way of thinking about pastures. We all want as much forage per acre to feed our horses and livestock but we also must think about the soil health as well. Such mixes as the Ray’s Crazy Mix have several varieties of seeds that have different root systems to expand the pores of the soil to create less runoff and more nutrients that can enter into the soil. The Ray’s Crazy Mix needs to be planted at a minimum of 40lbs per acre. Fescues also work well in our area and can be planted from September through November depending on weather conditions. Any fescue needs to be seeded at 35 to 40lbs per acre. Fescue is suited more for a clay based soil and not a sandy base soil. It is also recommended to mix clover in with your fescue to promote an added nitrogen source to the soil. If you are going to inter-seed a clover the seeding rate would be 4 to 5lbs per acre. 

With so many varieties to plant for our area make sure you talk to your local extension agent to see what would best suit your farm and the goals you have for each forage season. As a final note, talk with your agent to know the fertilizer recommendations to put on these forages to get the best grazing season that you can.   

Written By: Jared Harrell